Device for detecting and retrieving sunken logs



Sept. 13, 1955 M. w. CHATTEN DEVICE FOR DETECTING AND RETRIEVING SUNKENLOGS Filed April 20, 1953 United States Patent Ofiice 2,717,800

Patented Sept. 13, 1955 2,717,800 Figure 6 is a perspective view of thetrigger mechanism employed in actuating my invention. DEVICE FOR DRETRIEVING Referring now to the drawings for the general arrangement ofmy invention it will be seen that it is of tubular Meredith W. Chatteii,Long Beach, Calif., assignor to construction, and includes an elongatedlo -engaging mem- Franks Dredging Company, Long Beach, Calif., a partberL removably supported in a guide G by a hand line C. nership Guide Galso functions as a probe in locating the posi- Application April 20,1953, Serial No. 349,925 gg g g h surf the Water as W111 later 4 Claims.(Cl. 294-66) My invention includes a trigger mechanism T, which whenactuated, permits a compressed spring S to expand My invention relatesgenerally to the field of dredging, G. Downward movement of e ector Epermits the logand more particularly to a device for detecting andreengaging member L to be directed into a sunken log, and trievmg logslying at the bottom of a body of water Spring S may be returned to itscompressed position by A dredge, as is well known, is employed in theremoval means of a mechanism M. of bulk material from the bottom of abody of wate O My invention also includes an intermediately positionedform of dredge removes such material by means of the tubular member 10that supports guide G on its lower hydraulic action of a circulatingcurrent of water, whereend portion. A tubular member 11, usedprincipally as in water is circulated at a velocity sufiicient to pickup bulk a handle is mounted on the upwardly disposed end of material atthe desired rate and direct it into the mouth of member 10 and the l0W rend of member 11 is situated the dredge for subsequent disposal. withinmember 10, providing a circular seat 11a for the Dredging is frequentlycarried out on stationary bodies upper end of spring S o a ut against asy best be Seen of water that have previously been used in loggingoperain Flgllre 4 The pp r end of guide G is positioned tions Duringlogging operations, a certain percentage of Within the tubular member 11to provide an annular stop the logs floated on the water sink beforereaching their 2- destination and when the type of dredge abovedescribed Tubular members 10 and 11 are held together as n works on suchWaters used for logging, these sunken logs integr all unit y atransversely disposed bolt Guide present a most troublesome problemUnless the sunken atfiXed t0 b lar member 10 by spot Welding, or logsare removed, they are carried up into the mouth of the like, located atPosltloll 10a le E includes a such sunken logs prior to the dredgingoperation i by of, which head is disposed within the confines of tubularno means simple. Normally waters on which logs are thethbel' The pp face15a of h hea is at all times tively shallow. Over a period of years,such bodies of is of the helical p the PP end 17 of h h a uts waterbecome jet black due to the tannic acid dissolved against the seat Head15 y move longitudinally from the logs. Thus it is impossible to seesunken logs 1'11 tubular member 10, with the degree of upward movefromabove the surface of the water, despite the fact that ment thereof beingdetermined by the Compression 011 they may lie only two or three feetbelow the surface there- P 111g Downward movement of head 15 is limitedy the downwardly disposed face 15b thereof coming into The primarypurpose in devising my present invention Contact h stop is to provide adevice that may be utilized to detect the The sptmg-eohlpl'esslhgmeehalllslh M includes a position of sunken lo as well as to retrievesame, bracket 19 mounted on tubular member 10, which bracket respectiveof the i of 11116 logs is provided with a transversely disposed pin 20that piv- A major object of my invention 18 to provide a sunken OtauySupports all elongated level 21 A light ln 22 log detecting andretrieving device of simple mechanical extends downwardly from one endof the e er 21 and structure that may be easily manipulated by a singleman, has all e hook 23 mounted 1 h free end thereand one that is capableof functioning equally well in A tohgltudlhally disposed Slot 24 is f mIn tu ushallow water, as well as in water of relatively great lat member10 that extends p y from h lower ep edge thereof, WhlCh slot is of suchwidth as to slidably Another object of my invention is to supply a devie receive a substantially horizontal leg 23a forming a porat is compact,of sturdy construction, easily portable, and of hook Leg 236! extendsinwardly I'HtO tubular may be fabricated from standard commerciallyavailable Thethber 10 a distance SIItfiCieHt t0 r v ly g g th materialsat arelatively low cost. lower face 15b of the ejector head. With thehead 15 A further object of my invention is to furnish a device 80engaged, the lever 21 y be rotated to w he that is positive inoperation, and one that permits the hook p y, and upward m n f h ad 15and detection and recovery of sunken logs with the eXpendi- 6O h 23 r suts in Compression of the spring S. ture of a minimum of time and effort.Spring S is normally maintained under compression by These and otherobjects and advantages of my invention the trigger mechanism T. InFigures 4 and 6 it will be will become apparent from the followingdescription of a seen that the trigger mechanism includes an outwardlypreferred form thereof, and from the drawing illustrating projecting lug27 that supports a tram that form inwhich: pin 28. A substantiallyE-shaped plate 29 formed from Figure 1 is a perspective view of myinvention when in a rigid sheet metal material is supported atapproximately use to detect sunken logs; the center thereof by the pin,28. Member 29 includes Figure 2 is a perspective view of a sunken log asit is an upwardly disposed substantially horizontal leg 30, and beingretrieved after detection; a somewhat longer downwardly disposed leg 31.

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of my invention; The outer endportion of the longer leg 31 projects Figure 4 is a verticalcross-sectional view of the device; through'a slot 32 formed in thetubular member 10, and

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the lower may engage theunder face 156 of the ejector head. The

head-engaging edge portion 33 of leg 31 is so tapered that thespring-loaded head tends to cause clockwise rotation of the plate 29.However, such rotation is prevented by the outwardly disposed end of leg30 when it contacts the outer face of a bar 34 of a substantiallyrectangular cross section. The bar 34 is pivotally supported on a pin35, and in Figure 6 it may be seen that pin 35 is fixedly supported ontubular member by a U-shaped mounting 36. Mounting 36 may be welded orotherwise afiixed to tubular member 10.

The log-engaging member L embodies an elongated shaft 40 having apointed lower end 41, and is in effect a spear. A fin 42 formed of sheetmetal extends outwardly from the shaft 40 and is of such thickness as tobe slidable in a longitudinally extending slot 43 formed in the lowerportion of the guide G. An opening 44 is formed in fin 42 through whichthe lower end of line C passes to be permanently affixed to thelog-engaging member in a conventional manner.

The operation of my invention is extremely simple. Logs which havesunken to the floor of a body of water are located by first using myinvention as a probe. As the guide G is moved about under the surface ofthe water W, it comes into contact with a sunken log, generallydesignated 50, whereby further movement of the device in a particulardirection is prevented. By movement of my invention, while at the sametime keeping the lower end of guide G thereof in contact with the sunkenlog, the approximate diameter of the log may be easily determined. Asunken log discovered by such a probing operation may be engaged bymember L by placing the lower end of guide G against the exterior of thelog at substantially the mid-point of its diameter and pulling upwardlyon a light chain 51 such as copper sash chain, the lower end of which isattached to the outer end of bar 34, causing the inwardly disposed endportion of bar 34 to move downwardly to the extent that it no longercontacts the extremity of leg 30. The spring loading on head causes theE-shaped plate 29 (as shown in Figure 4) to pivot in a clockwisedirection, to release head 15.

As spring S expands, the ejector E is moved downwardly to cause thelog-engaging member L to be discharged from guide G with sufficientforce that shaft 40 enters log 50, as shown in Figure 2. At the time thelog is engaged by shaft 40, the lower end of guide G is in contacttherewith. Shaft portion 41 is formed with spirals 41a for log-engagingpurposes. After the extremity 41 of shaft 40 is embedded in log 50, thelog may be brought to the water surface by the exertion of upward forceon hand line C. The force exerted on line C to raise the log to thesurface is normally relatively light, due to the slight differential inspecific gravity of the sunken log from that of water. Shaft 40 ofmember L, as may best be seen in Figure 4, is disposed within theconfines of guide G, but has a fin 42 that projects through slot 43.When the operator of the device holds the link C taut, the member L willbe maintained in guide G until discharged therefrom by ejector E.

Shaft 40 may be removed from the log 50 after it has been retrieved andthe shaft replaced in guide G (Figure 2) with the fin 42 slidablymounted in slot 43. Hook 23 is then placed in groove 24, with leg 23aengaging the under face of head 15. By manually rotating the lever 21(Figure 4) in a counterclockwise direction, the ejector E is drawnupwardly until the leg 31 engages the under face of head 15. Bar 34 maythen be pivoted by use of cable 51 to the position shown in Figure 6, inwhich position the spring loading on head 15 cannot cause movement ofE-shaped plate 29. My invention is then ready for use once again inlocating and retrieving another sunken log.

In dredging operations, a workman equipped with my invention usuallyoperates in a small boat a considerable distance ahead of the dredge.After the sunken logs are t raised to the water surface, they are movedto a suitable location by conventional means. While not necessary, it sdesirable to have more than one line C and log-retrieving member L inoperation so that the probing for sunken lo gs may continue during thetime a log is being retrieved and brought to the surface.

Although my invention as above described is fully capable of achievingthe objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore mentioned, it isto be understood that it is merely illustrative of a preferredembodiment of my invention, and that I do not mean to be limited to thedetails of construction herein shown other than as defined by theappended claims.

I claim:

l. A device for detecting and retrieving sunken logs, which includes:rigid tube; an elongate log-engaging member formed with an outwardlyprojecting fin; a tubular guide coaxially mounted on the lower endportion of said tube and forming a stop at the junction therewith whichguide is adapted to slidably receive said member: with said finprojecting through a longitudinal slot formed in said guide when saidmember is so received; an eiector slidably mounted in said tube andguide, which ejector is provided with a head that is at all timesdisposed in said tube and limits the extent of downward movement of saide ector by contacting said stop; a trigger pivotally supported on saidguide, said trigger having a leg that may he so positioned to extendthrough an opening formed in said guide to removably engage said headand hold same in fixed position; trigger actuating means extendingupwardly from said trigger from a position above the surface of thewater in which said guide is submerged; a helical spring that is at alltimes in compression and d sposed in said tube, the upper end of whichspring occupies a fixed position therein with the lower end thereofmovably engaging said head, said lower spring end be ng adapted toassume either a first position where sa d trigger engages said head or asecond position where said head is in contact with said stop; and a lineextending upwardly from said fin to a position above said water surface,which line when taut holds said member completely within the confines ofsaid guide to prevent entanglement of said member with underwatervegetatron when said guide is employed as a probe, with said line whenslack serving as means to raise a sunken log to the water surface aftersaid member is caused to engage same by placing the lower guide end incontact with said log, actuating said trigger to release said ejectorand permit said spring to discharge sald member into said 2. A devicefor detecting and retrieving sunken logs, which includes: a rigid tube;an elongate log-engaging member formed with an outwardly projecting fin;a tubular guide coaxially mounted on the lower end portion of said tubeand forming a stop at the junction therewith, which guide is adapted toslidably receive said member, with said fin projecting through alongitudinal slot formed in said guide when said member is so received;an ejector slidably mounted in said tube and guide, which ejector isprovided with a head that is at all times disposed in said tube andlimits the extent of downward movement of said ejector by contactingsaid stop; trigger means that removably engage said head to hold it infixed position; means for actuating said trigger from above the surfaceof the water in which said guide is submerged; spring means that are atall times in compression and in engagement with said head, which meansare under maximum. compression when said head is engsged by said triggermeans and under lesser compression when said head is in contact withsaid step; and a line extending upwardly from said fin to a positionabove said water surface, which line when taut retains said member in afully shielded position within the confines of said guide until suchtime as said trigger is actuated to permit head results in the return ofsaid spring means to its 10 1506068 maximum compressed condition.

when discharged thereinto. 5

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS HarrisFeb. 10, 1903 Lange Aug. 26, 1924

